【正文】 us t o expect dif f er ent at it udes and cust om s of t he charact ers, is str ongl y suggesti ve of t he whole so ciety, whi ch i s crucial t o an essent ial under st andi ng of The Scarlet Let t er as a whol e. Besides pl ace and t im e, seti ng m ay al so i ncl ude t he weat her, which, indeed, may be cr uci al i n som e st ori es. 2. Local col or writ i ng /regi onal ism and t he wri t er, a regi onal wri ter. When set i ng domi nat es, or when a pi ece of fi cti on is wr it t en l argely t o pr esent t he manner s and cust om s of a l ocal it y, t he wri ti ng i s of t en cal ed local col or wr it i ng or r egi onal ism and t he wr it er , a r egi onal wri t er. A r egi onal wri t er usual ly sets hi s/ her st or ies i n one geographic ar ea and t ri es to br ing i t al i ve t o r eaders everywhere. Thom as Hardy, i n hi s por tr a yal of li f e i n Wessex, wr ote r egi onal novel s. Arnol d Ben ’s novel s of t he “Fi ve Towns” are m ar kedl y r egi onal. Wil l iam Faul kner, known as a di st inguished regi onal wri ter, alm ost al ways set hi s novel s and st or i es i n his nati ve Mi si si ppi. 3. The set t i ng of a novel is not always drawn f rom a real li fe l ocal e. The seti ng of a novel i s not always dr awn fr om a real li fe l ocale. Li terar y art ists someti mes prefer t o create t he total it y of their f icti on—t he set ing as wel l as characters and t hei r act ions. …… The creati on of set ting can be a m agi cal f icti onal gif t in a opi ni on about , and st at em ent of, t he t heme. Moral i nf erences drawn from m ost st ori es: Mor al i nf erences m ay be drawn f r om m ost st ori es, no doubt , even when an author does not i nt end hi s/ her st or y t o be r ead t hi s way. I n “A Cl ean, Wel l Li ght ed Pl ace”, we f el t hat Hemi ngway i s i ndi rect l y gi vi ng us advice f or pr oper l y r egar ding and sym pat hizi ng t he l onely, t he uncer t ai n, and t he ol d. But obvi ously t he st or y does not set f or t h a lesson t hat we ar e supposed to put i nt o pr acti ce. We can say f or sur e t hat “A Cl ean, Wel Li ght ed Place” cont ai ns sever al them es and ot her st at em ent s coul d be made t o take i n Hem i ngway’s vi ew of l ove, of m uni cati on bet ween peopl e, of di gnit y. Gr eat st ori es, li ke great sym phonies, f r equent l y have m or e t han one t hem e. When we say t hat t he ti l e of Pr i de and Pr ej udi ce conveys t he t hem e of t he novel or t hat Uncle Tom’ s Cabi n and The Gr apes of Wr at h t r eat t he t hem es of sl aver y and m igr at ory l abor r espect i vel y, t hi s is t o use them e i n a l ar ger and m or e abst ract sense t han i t is i n our discussion of Hemi ngway’ s “A Cl ean, Wel Li ght ed Place. ” I n t hi s lar ger sense it i s r el at i vel y easy t o say t hat Mark Twai n’s Huckleber r y Finn, Updi ke’ s A amp。 ( 2) t he occupat ions and dai ly m anner of li vi ng of t he characters。 ( 4) t he gener al envi r onm ent of t he characters, f or exam ple, reli gious, m ent al , m or al, social, and em oti onal condi ti ons t hr ough whi ch char act er s in t he st or y m ove. ( Holm an and Har man, A Handbook t o li t erat ure, 1986) But oft en, i n an ef ect i ve st or y, set ing m ay fi gur e as mor e than mer e background. I t can m ake t hi ngs happen. It can prom pt char act ers t o act , bri ng them t o r eal izat i ons, or cause t hem t o r eveal t hei r i nnerm ost natur es, as we shal see i n John Cheever ’s short st or y “The Swimm er”. Fir st , as we have said, t he i dea of set ti ng i ncl udes t he physi cal envi ronm ent of a st ory: a r egi on, a l andscape, a cit y, a vi l age, a st r et, a house—a part icular place or a ser ies of places wher e a st or y occur s. ( Wher e a st ory t akes pl ace i s som et im es cal ed it s local e.) Pl aces i n fi ct i on not only pr ovi de a locat i on f or an act i on or an event of t he st or y but al so provoke feeli ngs i n us. A si ght of a gr een fi el d dott ed wit h f lutt eri ng daf f odil s af ect s us ver y dif f er ent l y fr om a si ght of a di ngy al ey, a t r opi cal j ungle, or a sm al l house cr owded wi t h fur ni t ur e. I n addi ti on t o a sense of beaut y or ugli nes, we usual y buil d up cert ai n associati ons when we put our sel ves i n such a scene. We ar e depr essed by a di ngy al ley, not only because it i s ugly, but because it m ay ar ouse a f eel i ng, per haps someti mes unconsci ousl y, of pover t y, mi ser y, vi ol ence, vi ciousness, and t he st ruggl es of hum an bei ngs who have t o li ve under such condit ions. A tr opi cal j ungl e, f or exam pl e, i n Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, m ight involve a pli cat ed anal ysi s: t he pl easur e of t he col our s and f or ms of veget at i on, t he di s f or t of hum idit y, heat, and i nsect s, a sense of m yst er y, hor ror, et c. The popul arit y of Sir Walt er Scott ’s “Waverl ey” novels i s due i n part t o t heir evocat i on of a r om ant i c m ood of Scot land. The Engli sh noveli st Graham Greene apparentl y needed t o vi si t a fr esh scene i n or der t o wr it e a fr esh novel. Hi s abi li t y to encapsulat e t he esence of an exoti c set ti ng in a si ngl e book is exem pl i fi ed i n The Heart of t he M att er。 she l oved the pl ace and was l oved i n the pl ace. The val e, f ar f r om t he m addi ng crowd of t he ci vil ized ci t y, was as ser ene and pur e as t he i nhabit ant s. Tes s, im bued deepl y wi t h the natur al hue of the vale and bound cl osel y t o thi s worl d of sim pli ci t y and seclusi on, experi enced he r own del i ght and happi ness though her f am il y was poor. It was, t o some ext ent, her depart ur e fr om her nat i ve pl ace t hat l ed to her t r agedy. I n The Ret urn of t he Nati ve, t he at m ospher e of Egdon Heat h pr evail s over t he whol e boo